Retort door



Aug, 17, 1948. F. T. JENKINS RETORT DOOR Filed s p 1946 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I N VEN TOR.

F. T. JENKINS Aug. 17, 1948.

RETORT DOOR 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Sept. 16, 1946 INVENTOR.

ITQEDEE /c/ TJENK/NJ BY W Q;

r WW3 atented Aug. 17 1948 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RETORT DOOR Frederick T. Jenkins, Seattle, Wash.

Application September 16, 1946, Serial No. 697,328

2 Claims. 1

This invention relates to retort doors and securing and releasing means therefor. More particularly, it has reference to improvements in retort doors of that kind described and illustrated in my United States Letters Patent No. 2,171,876, issued on September 5, 1939.

It has been explained in my above identified patent that retorts of the character to which the present invention applies are generally of con siderable size and are made to withstand exceedingly high internal pressures. Also, the entrance to such a retort is quite large; for example, from one to six feet in diameter in order to permit the movement therethrough of small truck loads of products into and from the retort. The doors for closing these retort openings are generally hinged to swing between open and closed positions and are equipped with means whereby they may be locked and sealed and closed in pressure tight joints.

In releasing and opening the doors of retorts of this kind, after a cooking operation by use of steam under pressure, precaution must be taken to see to it that the door is not released for opening while any appreciable amount of steam under pressure remains in the retort; the reason for this being that injury to the operator or persons near, might result from the door being blown open and steam and hot water discharged.

The device of the patent employs a doorsecuring mechanism including a plurality of levers and control devices located at the inside of the door. This mechanism has proven to be very satisfactory from the standpoint of its intended functions, but its location has presented some disadvantages in respect to adequately and satisfactorily packing or sealing the lever adjusting mechanism due to its being extended through the door for exterior operation and control. Furthermore, there is the condition that it is quite difficult to judge from outside the closed door, the position of the locking levers.

In view of the above, and for other reasons, it has been the principal object of the present invention to provide an improved door construction for retorts and to provide securing, clamping and releasing means therefor that are located exteriorly of the door and which retains all the desirable features and advantages of the device of the above mentioned patent and provides additional advantages and eliminates the disadvantagec.

Other objects of the invention reside in the details of construction of parts, in their combination and mode of operation, as will hereinafter be fully described.

In accomplishing these and other objects of the invention, I have provided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a retort equipped with a door embodying the improvements of the present invention therein.

Fig. 2 is a horizontal section taken on line 22 in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3'is an enlarged horizontal sectional detail of a part of the door and its securing means.

Fig. 4 is a front view, partly in section, of parts of the door locking mechanism.

Fig.5 is a fragmental view, showing the safety lock for the release lever.

Fig. 6 is a section taken on line 66 in Fig. 5.

Referring more in detail to the drawingsl designates, in general, a retort for the cooking or sterilizing therein of canned goods or other products, by use of steam combined underpressure, and 2 designates a circular opening, or doorway, leading into the retort chamber, and 3 a door mounted on the retort and adapted to close the opening.

As will be understood from. the present drawings, the door 3 is circular, and is equipped at one edge with vertically spaced hinge ears 4-4 adapted to cooperatively overlap with hinge ears 5-5 that are fixed on the retort, to receive a vertical hinge pin 6 therethrough by which the door is supported to swing between closed and open positions.

By reference to Figs. 2 and 3, it will be understood that the body of the door is inwardly dished to substantial extent to give it strength and rigidity to withstand the internal steam pressure, and extending entirely about its periphery, it has an inwardly turned flange [0 adapted, when the door is closed, to seat tightly against a joint seal- .ing gasket l2 that is set in a channel I3 in an annular band I4 that iswelded or otherwise secured about the retort entrance as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

Extended centrally through the door and Welded rigidly therein, is a cylindrical guide post l5. This extends a short distance through the door to the inside of the retort and extends to a substantial distance to the outside. Closely fitted with in the post It and coextensive therewith, is a sleeve l6, which at its inner end has a flange I! overlying the inner end of post, and held locked between that end of post and a cap l8 that is threaded onto the innerend of the post.

The outer end portion of the sleeve I6 is internally threaded as at 25 in Fig. 8 and threaded thereinto is a shaft 26 which has a reduced outer end portion 26' that extends through and is rotatably fixed in the outer end wall of a slide bearing 28 and-at the outside of the bearing has a hand wheel '29 fixed thereon for the rotation of the shaft 26 to thread it into or from within the sleeve 16 and to thereby efiect a corresponding adjustment of the bearing 28 along the outer end portion of the post IS.

The bearing member 28 is mounted for rotation and also for longitudinal adjustment on the post l5. As shown best in'Fig. 3, the bearing comprises a cylindrical outer end portion 26a that is closed by the outer end wall 281) through which the reduced end portion 26' of shaft extends. At its inner end, the bearing 28 has a collar 3!! fitted thereto and secured by a plurality of bolts 3! the collar also being slidably and rotatably'fitted to the post 1-5.

The adjacent end portions of the body 28 and collar 30 are provided with annular flanges and 36, which, at regular angular intervals, are equipped to provide ball sockets 31, in which the ball shaped inner end portions Ml of radially extending door securing levers are pivotally contained.

As shown best in Fig. 3, the levers 40 extend The outer end portions of the levers extend beyond the door and have seats formed in their outer edges, and these portions ar adapted to be extended beneath keeper bars 48, each carried by two spaced anchor bolts 49-49 that are adjustably mounted in the band It that is secured about the periphery of the retort opening. It is to be understood that by a rotative adjustment of the bearing member 28 in one direction about the post 15, all levers 40 will be retracted, as from the full line to the dotted line position of Fig. 4, thus to disengage their outer end portions from beneath their respective keeper bars 48, and by rotative adjustment in the opposite direction, to extend the retracted levers to positions as in Fig. 1. beneath the keeper bars. In making either of these adjustments, the ball ends of the levers 40 pivot in the bearing sockets 31 and the outer end portion of the levers slide through their mountings 43 and move to and from beneath the keeper bars I8 between their mounting bolts 49.

The withdrawing of the bars 40 from their ex- This rotation is eifected by means of a hand lever 58 that is fixed to the bearing 28 and extended radially thereof, as seen in Figs. 1 and 5.' The clampin of the door by the several levers, in a tightly sealed position and the door release action of the levers for their retraction, is accomplished by the straight inward and outward shifting of the bearing 23 on the hub l5, and this shifting is effected by rotation of shaft 26 to thread it into or from the sleeve l6 thus to shift the bearing 28 inwardly or outwardly. This turning of the shaft 26 is accomplished by means of the hand wheel 29. Turning of the wheel when the door is closed and locked to extend the shaft 26 to its outer limit, will shift the bearing 28 accordingly and all levers will be caused to pivot in their bearings 43 and the levers will assume the full line position of the lever 40 in Fig.3.

As a safety feature, provision is made that the door may be cracked open for escape of steam without being released, and must be cracked open to a definite extent before the levers 40 can be withdrawn for opening the door. It is shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 6 that the lever is fixed to the bearing 28 to extend rigidly in a radial direction and at its outer end is normally contained in a longitudinal opening 60 in a bracket 6| that is fixed rigidly upon and extends outwardly from the door 3; The lever is retained beneath a horizontal lip 62 across the top of the opening until after the door has been shifted to its cracked open position that would permit the steam pressureto escape from the retort, then it is freed from beneath the lip, as seen in Fig. 6, and may then be swung upwardly for that rotative adjustment of bearing 28 that causes the retraction of the levers 40.

The, present arrangement is satisfactory and safe and it eliminates joint sealing difficultles previously experienced and places the levers and adjusting devices outside the retort where they can be seen.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A retort comprising a housing formed with an opening, a door hinged on the housing to swing outwardly from sealed to open position, a tubular post rigidly fixed centrally in the door and extended outwardly therefrom, a. bearing rotatably and longitudinally movable on the said post, a shaft rotatably fixed in said bearing coaxial of the post and having its inner end portion threaded into the post and an outer end portion extended outwardly from the bearing, a plurality of locking levers on the outside of the door, extended radially from and each having a ball and socket connection at its inner end with the said bearing, fulcrum guides on the door containing the outer end portions of the locking levers slidably and pivotally therein, keeper members on the retort arranged to receive the ends of the levers therebeneath for securing the door, a turning wheel fixed on the outer end portion of said shaft whereby it may be rotated in one direction to adjust the bearing inwardly on the post to actuate the levers to clamp the door to seal the opening or rotated in the opposite direction to shift the bearing and levers to release the door from sealed contact but without release of the levers from their keepers and a radial lever arm fixed on the bearing for its rotary adjustment in opposite directions to shift the lock levers from and into their keepers.

2. A structure as recited in claim 1 wherein the said tubular post comprises a cylindrical outer member that is extended through and is fixed in the door, and a sleeve fitted in the said member and coextensive thereof and formed with a flange about its inner end engaged against the inner end of the member, a cap threaded over the inner end of the member and clamped against said flange, and said sleeve having an interiorly threaded outer end portion receiving the threaded inner end portion of the bearing adjusting shaft therein. I

FREDERICK T. JENKINS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,212,372 Liptay Jan. 16, 1917 1,491,214 Underwood Apr. 22, 1924, 2, 71,876 Jenkins Sept. 5, 1939 

